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Free Kid-Sized Messenger Bag Sewing Pattern and Tutorial

Kids messenger bag free sewing pattern and tutorial #sewing #pattern

My free child-sized messenger bag pattern is the perfect shrunken size for the special kid in your life. You can make my easy DIY kids messenger bag pattern in a couple evenings. Keep reading to get my free kids messenger bag sewing pattern!

Make a kids messenger bag free sewing pattern and tutorial | great DIY gift for kids #sewing #pattern

A mini messenger bag sewing pattern that’s sized for kids

My kids messenger bag free sewing pattern is a variation of my free bridesmaid’s handbag sewing pattern and my free shoulder handbag sewing pattern with the bird silhouette. I was pressed for time so left out interior pockets and such but if your kid wants a couple of interior pockets in the messenger bag I can show you how to add those in too.

Kids messenger bag free sewing pattern and tutorial | great DIY gift for kids #sewing #pattern

I made the kid’s messenger bag outside in black corduroy with a floral flap and lining. And you know that I like to add a little whimsy in my patterns here and there so I made peek-a-boo mini-portrait of Elise’s beloved pink monkey under the flap. Elise loves lifting the flap and seeing the homage to her best pal.

Free sewing pattern to make a kid-sized messenger bag

I used to sew handbags. A lot of handbags. Sold them with my friend Heather at Chicago boutiques and craft fairs out of recycled t-shirts and my precious vintage linen calendars. And then I burned out. I didn’t want to be saddled to just handbags. And I realized that my favorite part was actually dreaming up and figuring out the bag patterns …not sales and production. So I gave it up and started merrimentdesign.com and shelved all my handbag patterns in the back of my craft closet.

But here and there I’m dipping back into my old handbag stash and I will share my bag sewing patterns here at Merriment Design for free. What type of bag pattern would you like to see next?

Child messenger bag free sewing pattern for kids

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Supplies for sewing my kids messenger bag free sewing pattern (final measurements are 9 inches wide x 7 inches tall x 2 inches deep):

How to sew a messenger bag for kids (final measurements are 9 inches wide x 7 inches tall x 2 inches deep):

Step 1: Cut mini messenger bag pattern pieces and assemble bag outside and lining

Fabric:

  • One 12″ X 17″ rectangle for bag outside
  • One 12″ X 17″ rectangle for bag inside lining
  • Two 9.5″ X 8.5″ rectangles of fabric for the flap

Interfacing:

How to make child-sized messenger bag free pattern and sewing tutorial

Iron on your interfacing to the wrong side of the bag outside.

How to make kid messenger bag free pattern and sewing tutorial for children

Fold your bag outside piece in half to make a rectangle. Draw teeny rectangles in each corner along the fold, 1″ tall by 1-1/2″ wide. This is going to make your messenger bag bottom.

How to make kid messenger bag free pattern and sewing tutorial for children

Carefully cut out the marked rectangle from each corner (which is actually a larger rectangle because you’re cutting across the fold).

How to make kid messenger bag free pattern and sewing tutorial for children

Repeat the folding, marking, and cutting on the lining piece of your kid’s messenger bag.

How to make kid messenger bag free pattern and sewing tutorial for children

Step 2: Sew the lining of the kid’s messenger bag

Now if you’re going to add an interior pocket, this is the time to do it.

Go to my bird handbag tutorial to add any interior pockets. Any questions, let me know.

Now let’s sew up the lining.

How to make child-sized messenger bag free pattern and sewing tutorial for kids

Sew the left and right sides of the lining using 1/2″ seams, making sure to leave both the cut out rectangles at the bottom and the top of the messenger bag lining unsewn.

How to make child-sized messenger bag free pattern and sewing tutorial for kids

Iron the seams open. Pretty.

How to make child-sized messenger bag free pattern and sewing tutorial for kids

Now this is the magic part. Squeeze the unsewn corner rectangles into a flat sandwich with the seam in the middle. See how it’s making a bottom?

How to make child-sized messenger bag free pattern and sewing tutorial

Sew 1/2″ from the raw edge to secure. Repeat on the other side.

Kid messenger bag free pattern and sewing tutorial

And here is your lining bottom. Let’s move to the messenger bag outside …but first, I’m going to add in a surprise for Elise.

Step 3 (Optional): Add a special peek-a-boo friend

How to make child-sized messenger bag free pattern and sewing tutorial

Here’s how to make an optional peek-a-boo monkey or any other special friend that your kid would like to see. Now alternatively, you could put an exterior pocket here if you’d like, just see my medium shoulder handbag free sewing pattern to see how to make a pocket.

Cut out your special friend from felt. Mark the mouth and use embroidery thread to make a smile.

Kid messenger bag free pattern and sewing tutorial

And fill in the eyes using embroidery thread like I did here and also on my Halloween no-sew felt and VELCRO One-Wrap bracelets.

How to make child-sized messenger bag free pattern and sewing tutorial

Place it centered on the bag outside piece about 1″ or 1-1/2″ from the top edge.

How to make child-sized messenger bag free pattern and sewing tutorial

Sew close to the edge of the felt pieces to secure them to the bag outside. I left the monkey ears loose on the sides.

How to make child-sized messenger bag free pattern and sewing tutorial

Step 4: Sew messenger bag outside

Now fold the handbag in half right sides together.

How to make child-sized messenger bag free pattern and sewing tutorial

And sew 1/2″ seams making sure to keep the cut rectangles and messenger bag top unsewn. Iron open the seams. Sounding familiar?

How to make child-sized messenger bag free pattern and sewing tutorial

Pinch the cut rectangles together with the ironed seam in the middle.

Kid messenger bag free pattern and sewing tutorial

And sew to close the messenger bag bottom.

Kid messenger bag free pattern and sewing tutorial

And here’s your handbag bottom.

Kid-sized messenger bag free pattern and sewing tutorial

Turn it right side out. Hi little Pink Monkey!

Child-sized messenger bag free pattern and sewing tutorial

Step 5: Sew messenger bag strap

Cut one 26″ x 8″ long rectangle for the strap. (NOTE: Measure your child and add or subtract strap inches as needed). Fold the strap piece together length-wise and iron. The strap piece is 8″ wide so after you iron it you’ll have a 4″ width piece.

How to sew straps onto a messenger bag for children

Now open up the ironed edge and carefully fold the sides in half again. This will make a 2″ strap.

How to sew straps onto a messenger bag for children

Iron it all as flat as you can.

How to sew straps onto a messenger bag for children

And topstitch close to the edge all sides around the messenger bag strap.

How to sew straps onto a messenger bag for children

Now you’re going to attach the strap to the bag. Line up the raw edge of the messenger bag outside together with the raw edge of the strap, with right sides together (just pick on of the strap sides to be the right side), and pin. Sew 1/4″ close to the edge back and forth a number of times to make sure it’s really secure. Repeat on the other side.

There’s a better photo of this on the “Make Straps” step of my Baby Bird Silhouette Handbag tutorial as I forgot to take a photo for this bag.

Step 6: Sew and attach messenger bag flap

Cut two 9.5″ X 8.5″ rectangles of fabric and one 9.5″ X 8.5″ piece of iron-on interfacing for flap. Iron on interfacing onto the outside piece of the flap. Put the flap piece onto your cutting surface.

How to sew a flap for a kid's messenger bag - free sewing pattern

I rounded off the corners for my flap like I did on the corners of my free apron sewing project but you can leave them as corners if you’d like. If you do want rounded corners like mine, place a coaster or a glass on the bottom corners and trace the curve.

How to round corners on a flap for a kid's messenger bag

Cut off the corners and repeat on the other flap piece.

How to sew a flap on a kid's messenger bag

Place the flap pieces together, right sides together, and sew 1/2″ inch seams (making sure to leave the top edge unsewn so you can turn it) and clip the curves.

How to clip corners on a curved kid's messenger bag flap

Turn the messenger bag flap right-side out.

How to sew a child-sized messenger bag flap

And iron it flat.

How to sew a child-sized messenger bag flap

Top stitch close to the edge.

How to sew a child-sized messenger bag flap

Place the right side of the flap against the back of the messenger bag. Sew the flap to the back side of the messenger bag 1/4″ from the raw edge.

How to sew straps onto a messenger bag for children

Step 7 (last step!): Attach lining to the bag

With the lining inside out, slip the outside messenger bag/straps/flap *inside* the lining so that there right sides are together. I know, it sounds weird. It’ll look like this:

How to sew a lined messenger bag - free sewing pattern

I followed this tutorial from mmmcrafts for how to do this “connect the flap” part. She has illustrations that are easier to follow than my photos so go check them out.

Sew around the lining 1/2″ leaving about 6 inches open to turn the messenger bag right-side out in a minute. Again, check out the illustrations here for a good visual.

How to sew a lined messenger bag - free sewing pattern

Now turn it through the open gap.

How to sew a kid's messenger bag - free sewing pattern

Pin the open gap shut…

How to sew a messenger bag

…and iron (or vice versa).

How to sew a flap onto a messenger bag

Topstitch around the messenger bag edge which will close your open gap…

How to sew a flap onto a messenger bag

…and also reinforce the flap a bit more.

How to sew a flap onto a messenger bag

I added some VELCRO Brand Fabric Adhesive fasteners (if you want to use the sew-on fastener then you can affix those earlier when you’re making the bag outside and flap). Now it’s ready for your kid to fill with Thomas the Train and other take-along treasures.

Kid messenger bag free pattern and sewing tutorial

Be sure to pin it for later.

Free sewing pattern for a kid-sized messenger bag. It's an easy DIY sewing project for beginners and makes a great DIY gift for kids!

And here’s a longer step-by-step pin:

Free sewing pattern for a kid-sized messenger bag. It's an easy DIY sewing project for beginners and makes a great DIY gift for kids!

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Copyright stuff: You’re more than welcome to use this free project and tutorial for personal use. Contact me for commercial use and etsy sales.

RMiller

Saturday 10th of November 2018

Thanks so much for this tutorial. I was looking for a pattern or instructions to make a child-sized messenger bag to hold art supplies. Now I can get started!

Kathy

Wednesday 14th of November 2018

That's great to hear! Happy sewing!

Krystal

Tuesday 6th of November 2018

Do you recommend using corduroy for the outside of the bag, or will cotton work just as good?

Kathy

Tuesday 6th of November 2018

Hi Krystal! Cotton would be great for this bag. You may want to add some interfacing to the outside cotton piece. My favorite interfacing is actually blackout drapery lining that you treat like sew-in interfacing (basically, just layer it behind your cotton and pretend the two pieces are just one piece. Drapery lining gives a good, non-crunchy feel that works really well for bags ...or you could use iron-on kind too. Happy sewing!

Joyce Check

Monday 18th of June 2018

I can't find where to print pattern for kids messenger bag

Kathy

Thursday 9th of August 2018

Hi Joyce, I see that you were asking about printing a pattern. Currently, I just have measurements to cut your own rectangle shapes rather than downloading printable pattern pieces, but adding an actual paper pattern is a good idea and I'll work on that. Thanks for visiting, and happy sewing!

Cari

Saturday 20th of January 2018

Hi there! I'm a new sewer and working on this bag. I can't figure out where to do the straps! is it on the sides (where the side seams are, or more in the back? I've turned the bag (finished it,) but the straps are trapped! :)

Thanks! Cari

Kathy

Sunday 21st of January 2018

Hi Cari, I emailed you too but for future readers: the straps go on the sides with the seams. I loved seeing your bag so much! Thanks a bunch for sending me a photo :)

Joanna Barile

Monday 4th of September 2017

I made this for a little girl... thank you for your clear instructions...